my tea poem

[Cate]

Instructions for Making Tea

I make tea for my new friend.

pour water in copper kettle
...turn flame to high

I will seduce him with my fine tea making abilities.

pour milk in saucepan
...turn flame to low

I will offer him choices.

choose leaves by smell, not label
...something spicy from Kenya
a fruity Assam from India
...a mystery blend from Ireland

He will see my ability to focus on things that are important.

...Fill globe with flavor
fasten chain around handle
...pour warm milk into mug
......wait for water to sing
...then join it to the milk

He will see small rituals lead to pleasure.

wrap hands around glass
...hold to chest while you
......absorb its warmth
watch the snow fall outside window

He will wish to sip from my cup.



( this is from a couple of weeks ago and probably could do with some more steeping, but there's lots of tea talk lately so I put it up. It's similar in subject to some of my other stuff, but you'll notice I gave up on the pancakes as a lure (to fattening) and decided to focus on the tea. If I'm ever single I shall surely be a mistress of seduction hehe, well maybe not quite)

[daka]

Hi Cate

If you are ever a single seductress
Don't forget the oranges
And they must come
All the way from China

Being a tea connoisseur (a frequenter of the VERY upscale "Ten Ren" tea store on Dundas Street in Chinatown in Toronto), let me know if you are ever "on the loose". If I am also "on the loose" we may just have a little tea party!



Séan

[Manna]

Dear Cate,

Your mighty poem is very interesting. I like how you use "tea" as a euphemism for mighty lagers, and milk for mighty mammary glands. It's also interesting how neither person in this poem is mighty. The female is trying very hard to have her hostess prowess speak for her unspeakable desires, being femininely subtle, yet indirect, and the male is being manipulated under the influence of "tea." wink wink.

[Virginia]

CATE,
a shortened version of your poem -


Tea
he.

[Cate]

Hi Cate

If you are ever a single seductress
Don't forget the oranges
And they must come
All the way from China

Being a tea connoisseur (a frequenter of the VERY upscale "Ten Ren" tea store on Dundas Street in Chinatown in Toronto), let me know if you are ever "on the loose". If I am also "on the loose" we may just have a little tea party!

The oranges! I totally would have forgotten the oranges.
There's a Ten Ren not that far from us, I should check it out. I've gone to House of Tea by Summerhill station a couple of times and it was very nice. She pulls down all types of containers for you to smell and she'll do blends for you, it's a lot of fun.

Now if you ever come to Toronto, loose or not loose (good word play by the way) we must get together for a tea, we can go down to Yorkville.

---------------------------------

Dear Cate,

Your mighty poem is very interesting. I like how you use "tea" as a euphemism for mighty lagers, and milk for mighty mammary glands. It's also interesting how neither person in this poem is mighty. The female is trying very hard to have her hostess prowess speak for her unspeakable desires, being femininely subtle, yet indirect, and the male is being manipulated under the influence of "tea." wink wink.

Dear Manna,

I like your wink wink - you make me laugh, not mention mighty lagers and mighty mammary glads. Do you know where I could get oranges from China or do you think that clementines from Morocco would do?

-------------------

CATE,
a shortened version of your poem -

Tea
he.

Hehe - that's very good. It's like an ultra haiku.

[mickey_one]

"he will wish to sip from my cup", and you were doing so well until then and its rather crude sexual reference.

[daka]

Hi Cate

Brace yourself for Ten Ren.
If it is managed like the one in Chinatown
It is staffed by by tiny shark-like Chinese ladies
Atypically unshy
With steely avaricious eyes,
A multiitude of pitches
And the persistence
Of Al Quaida

The one in Chinatown
Has a large ornate tea tasting table
With all the gear.
They used to invite guests to sit
And enjoy the experience
As they not-so-subtly sell the tea
They have dispensed with this formality
And the table with tea kit is merely
A part of the tea-selling scene

My favorite was called "King's Tea"
They used to give a taste when asked
Not any more, unless you are a king
"King's Tea" is the ultimate in Oolong
flavored with Ginseng
There is a dark version (more fermented)
And a light one (equally delightful)
(Blonde or Brunette)
If we are ever "loose"
(and rich)
And enthroned
We will splurge
150 dollars for a little tin

(Believe it or not there is a more expensive, more delicate and more delightful tea than "King's Tea"... I bought it once... or twice.... or thrice))

(I suspect Suzanne bought her tea at Ten Ren Tea Store)

A TIP! Act regal and ask for a taste of King's Tea.
Don't beg! That would not be regal!
Tell them that an overseas ambassador highly recommended it!
(not totally untrue!)


Séan

[Manna]

Tea and oranges is a favourite snack of mine, but fresh fruit was not on the menu when Suzanne tied Leonard to her kitchen chair. She fed him a tea that had little bits of orange peel in it; I think it was called constant comfort. It was called something comfort. But Cate, I think you should try to get some fresh Mandarin oranges. That will impress your man-friend, or at least it will impress me, and according to my ego, I'm the important one here. They might have them in a China Town market. You can peel them, and try to get any seeds out, then serve the wedges spread into a fan with small pieces of thinly sliced extra sharp cheese of your choice and pecans at the fanning-point.

or...

you could slice the oranges, then cut the rinds off to get something easy to eat. Top with vanilla ice cream and serve with pistachio biscotti.

of course, there's orange souffle:

* Six empty orange shells
* The juice of 3 oranges and 2 kiwis (the kiwis for that extra sweetness)
* Four egg whites and three egg yolks
* Two table spoons of sugar

Beat the egg yolks until almost creamy and add the half the juice to them. Add the sugar to the egg yolks & mix. Then beat the egg whites until you have very stiff, erect peaks. Slowly mix the egg whites with the egg yolk by adding the whites in the yolk. The secret of a souffle is well-beaten egg whites and slow mixture with the rest of the ingredients so as to leave intact the tiny bubbles of air in the egg whites. This will ensure that the whole thing rises. You can leave some of it in little tufts of egg white. Put the gloop into the empty orange shells. If there's any that won't fit, you can just use normal ramekins.

In a hot over (400 F, or 200 C) for 6-7 minutes and there you have it.

[Cate]

Perfect - tonight, after the kids are in bed, I shall tell my husband he is a stranger and serve him tea and Mandarin oranges with cheese.

Michael your right, that line should go. I almost took it out before. What do they say, show us don't tell us.

Oh wait I almost missed that recipe. AN Orange Souffle! It doesn't look that hard, I think I could do that!
Thanks Manna!

[mickey_one]

Michael your right, that line should go. I almost took it out before. What do they say, show us don't tell us.

Dear Cate, whose name is an anagram of "tea", see, yes it is my right to be ultra sensitive about sexual content as you acknowledge above. So please remember at all times that this is a forum frequented by vulnerable and easily excited persons Whilst I do accept that you must have almost put it in before you "almost took it out" and that admission may have been truly cathartic for you perhaps you should post with greater care. Again, whilst I understand the broad thrust of your position,shall we leave this as an isolated occurrence? After all,I can only imagine that for you to put it in and take it out more frequently it would have to be very hard for you indeed.

[imaginary friend]

Brace yourself for Ten Ren.
If it is managed like the one in Chinatown
It is staffed by by tiny shark-like Chinese ladies
Atypically unshy
With steely avaricious eyes,
A multiitude of pitches
And the persistence
Of Al Quaida

The one in Chinatown
Has a large ornate tea tasting table
With all the gear.
They used to invite guests to sit
And enjoy the experience
As they not-so-subtly sell the tea
They have dispensed with this formality
And the table with tea kit is merely
A part of the tea-selling scene

My favorite was called "King's Tea"
They used to give a taste when asked
Not any more, unless you are a king
"King's Tea" is the ultimate in Oolong
flavored with Ginseng
There is a dark version (more fermented)
And a light one (equally delightful)
(Blonde or Brunette)
If we are ever "loose"
(and rich)
And enthroned
We will splurge
150 dollars for a little tin

Sean, I know this is Cate's thread, but your Ten Ren story is too funny and too accurate to ignore – we have a Ten Ren in Vancouver – the identical twin to the one you describe, especially the 'tiny shark-like' Chinese ladies'. I once bought Oolong tea from there, with a tiny pot and tiny cups (i.e. everything the sharklets pressed on me), but I never went back, for fear of succumbing to even more predatorily-priced purchases

[daka]

Hello Imaginary Friend

It is nice to be affirmed; I occasionally exaggerate for effect, but not in this case!

I used to have a little money and engaged in many hedonistic excesses.

I am now a poverty-stricken meditator on a mountain in Spain making do with some more basic teas. A kind friend in Toronto sends me some Sencha (Japanese Green Tea) on my birthday and also some TUOCHA. TUOCHA is the poor man's Chinese green tea (perhaps $1.50 a box in Chinatown... 1% of the price of King's Tea) TUOCHA is steamed into a hard block and looks (possibly) like a dried yak turd which is chipped away at and steeped like any other tea.

I introduced my kind and gentle Canadian friend to Ten Ren Tea Store a few years ago. Like you she won't return. She feels helpless and suffers greatly during the shark attacks, although she does not succumb to the pitches.

Bye for now

Séan

[Cate]

Brace yourself for Ten Ren.
If it is managed like the one in Chinatown
It is staffed by by tiny shark-like Chinese ladies
Atypically unshy
With steely avaricious eyes,
A multiitude of pitches
And the persistence
Of Al Quaida

HI Daka and I.F.,

Okay, now I definitely have to check this place out! The Tea Ren close to me looks to small to have a tea tasting table, I'll have to head down to Chinatown, but I'll wait till after Christmas for sanity reasons.
I tried to look up Kings tea - to see the blend and damn, yes that's expensive. I know that some tea's require a great deal of manual labour, the leaves are hand picked and treated - this must be an example of one of those tea's, hopefully the price indicates that the workers got a fair shake.

Okay if we are ever stupidly rich we will buy a small tin and have ourselves a crazy tea party with oranges from Chinatown. We can take turns preparing the tea, I've looked up how to brew http://www.culinaryteas.com/Store/Oolong_Brewing.html so I'm all ready.

[Cate]

Dear Cate, whose name is an anagram of "tea", see, yes it is my right to be ultra sensitive about sexual content as you acknowledge above. So please remember at all times that this is a forum frequented by vulnerable and easily excited persons Whilst I do accept that you must have almost put it in before you "almost took it out" and that admission may have been truly cathartic for you perhaps you should post with greater care. Again, whilst I understand the broad thrust of your position,shall we leave this as an isolated occurrence? After all,I can only imagine that for you to put it in and take it out more frequently it would have to be very hard for you indeed.

Dear Ice Monkey,

To imply that my tea poem is sexual is ridiculous. It would would be like implying that your clearly, non-sexual post had sexual undertones or that Manna's instruction to make a Souffle had sexual implications. I had thought about taking out that line only because I wasn't sure I wanted to share share my cup - germs. If I had been nice, I would have made 2 cups of tea.

[mickey_one]

Dear non-sexual person, I apologise. I am saddened by the coarseness of innuendo which sometimes taints even this ethereal forum, which must remain the home of bad poetry not bad sexual banter,

Lord Mickey of One

ps what you doing Christmas day around lunchtime. if you are free please pop round to my place so I can give you one.